Fall guys took blame for WW1 train disaster

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The worst British rail disaster took place on May 22, 1915, when the London to Glasgow express crashed into two trains that had already collidedWar/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images

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Those injured in the crash at Gretna were treated in a field alongside the trackWar/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images

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A roll call revealed the 7th Battalion of the Royal Scots had lost dozens of menWar/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images

Mike Wade

Published at 12:01AM, May 16 2015

Survivors would recall the high spirits of their comrades as they boarded
their train in the middle of the night. It was an open secret that the 7th
(Leith) Battalion, The Royal Scots, was heading to Liverpool to join a
troopship for Gallipoli, and the men whooped with excitement as they made
their way through the rickety wooden carriages.

Three hours later, in little more than a minute, most of these men of the
Territorial Army had been killed or grievously injured in the worst railway
accident in British history. At 6.49am on May 22, 1915, they were travelling
at